Just Pretend
by dancingqueen021
Summary: Missing scene from 1x18. "She really, really cared about this one." "He was kidding himself when he said it didn't mean anything...it meant everything."


AN: So as excited as I was to see this episode, the ending made me more upset than I thought it would. So here's my take on what both Kat and Patrick did behind closed doors that night. I don't own 10 Things. If I did, I wouldn't have canceled it.

Kat slammed the door harder than she meant to. She knew Bianca probably wanted to talk about it, dissect everything Patrick said and all of the possible meanings behind every word that was echoing in her head. And as much as Kat didn't want to admit it,

Her heart was breaking.

She thought going into this night unattached would mean that her heart was unattached also. That there was nothing that Patrick could take from her. Josh had already taken anything of real value, or at least Kat thought.

Josh was hot, a musician, had goals of changing the world through his music. But he was also shallow, and Kat thought that by being with him, she was special. And after dating for a few weeks, Kat had already begun to think about doing the deed with him. Then her dad got notice of being transferred and Kat decided that sleeping with him was the only chance she had of keeping him. So she did. Then she saw the pictures posted on Facebook.

The next afternoon she met Patrick.

The thing was, as important as Josh was to her in her old life. Patrick meant twice as much. He was special.

Patrick got her. The complex, demanding, drama-filled Kat Stratford and didn't ask for her to be anything else. And she thought that being with him was going to the best thing she's had in her life in a very, very long time.

She's not going to pretend that the idea of sleeping with him didn't terrify her in the beginning. She knew that Patrick would be expecting it a lot sooner than Josh did, this was Patrick Verona we're talking about here. And Kat knew he must've been with a lot more girls than her guys.

So being her, Kat made this idea up in her head that this wasn't a big deal. It was just sex. Who cares? HA! Funny.

Sex isn't just sex. Especially not to girls. This night meant far more to her than she was willing to admit. She really, really, cared about this one.

So instead of sitting with Bianca talking about things that would only make her want to throw things, Kat curled up in her bed.

And began to cry.

* * *

Patrick pulled into Keith's driveway and knocked on the front door of the house. The door opened with a bang, and Keith came stumbling out.

"Patrick my man! You brought back my baby, good job," Keith said, slapping a hand onto Patrick's shoulder.

"Do you want me to clean up the stuff?" Patrick asked monotonously, gesturing to the van.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna surprise my lady friend with all of that work you did," Keith explained, "So how did it go with your love bunny, did you seduce the un-seducible?"

"No," Patrick said over his shoulder, walking over to his bike. He climbed on, kicking it to life. As he backed out of the driveway, Keith yelled,

"Oh too bad man! I told you, just go for the blonde chicks, the brunettes are way too complicated!" Patrick nodded then sped off down Keith's street.

He was able to go home because the jackass wasn't home, on some business trip in Florida. Right. So after Patrick took a shower, he slipped into his room quietly, trying not to alert his mom who was asleep in the next room.

He walked over to his bed, sitting down on the end. He leant forward, resting his head in his hands. What did he do? He just screwed up the one good thing in his life. He always does this. His mouth just takes off before he can stop it, and it has always landed him in hot water. His shrink tells him it's a defense mechanism.

Defense against what? It wasn't like he was about to do anything he hasn't done before. It's just sex.

With Kat Stratford.

Patrick sighed heavily, falling back to stare at the ceiling.

He was kidding himself when he said that sex with Kat, the craziest woman he's ever met, didn't mean a thing to him.

It meant everything.

And he just totally effed up the entire relationship because he made her feel like she wasn't just that, that she wasn't everything he'd been wanting for the past few months and more.

She was so unique, and so special; and he thought that by decorating Keith's van, and going to get tested, and hanging out with her family that he was showing her that she was. Guess she needed to be told too.

So instead of fighting for her like someone who was actually worthy of her time, he decided to turn off his lights, get into bed, and pretend that that the reason he wasn't falling asleep had nothing to do with

HER.


End file.
